The dry season is here
April 18, 2008
There is a definite chill in the air this morning and the sky is cloudless and gloriously blue. It is as if someone has pulled the plug on the valley and suddenly the whole area is drying out. Much of the soil here has a very high clay content and as it dries it cracks up into wonderful patterns and abstracts.
The river is now too low for us to use the boat and so we are stranded here again. It is incredible how the rainy season completely wipes out the roads so that each season they need to be rebuilt. We don’t have a grader here and have to rely on ZAWA (Zambia Wildlife Authority) to grade the road in from Mfuwe. Hopefully this will be done by the end of the month or early May…
Content Copyright Patrick Bentley Photography
Painterly skies
March 9, 2008
This storm blew in yesterday evening from the east but then blew away again without dropping much rain. It seems as though the rainy season is coming to an end early this year as we have had very little rain in the last couple of weeks. Soon the river will be too shallow for the boat and we will be marooned again until it is dry enough to build a road out of here. One thing I have learned though over this rainy season is that life here is extremely unpredictable and if the river flooded again tomorrow I wouldn’t be very surprised!
Content Copyright Patrick Bentley Photography
underwater - again!
February 6, 2008
It has been a stressful week for us as for the second year running the Luangwa river has burst its banks and the whole area is flooding. At least half of the camp is now underwater and most of the nearby camps are submerged. We are lucky here at Lion Camp that the majority of our buildings are up on stilts with walkways between them. The workshop area isn’t though and it is completely submerged with crocs swimming around it!
Despite the chaos of moving things around in camp I have still been able to get around and do some photography from the boat. The Village Weavers are building their nests furiously at the moment and I will post some images of them in the next day or two.
Content Copyright Patrick Bentley Photography
Full at last!
January 29, 2008
Yesterday morning we woke to find that the river had risen by nearly 2 metres in the night! Throughout the day and last night it has continued to rise and is now full to bursting. Where the puku and impala were grazing just two days ago is now a vast expanse of open water.
Even the trees are partially submerged in places and our ebony grove is absolutely enchanting with hippos swimming between the trunks and spectacular bird life in the branches above. The transformation from the dry, dusty safari season is startling and it has been wonderful to witness it…..
Content Copyright Patrick Bentley Photography
Drought?
December 16, 2007
Although we have had a few storms this month, overall there has been less rain than is usual for this time of year. The river is still very low but the landscape is gradually getting greener.
Last year we had severe flooding in the valley but this year there is talk of drought. Actually, I don’t think anybody knows what is going to happen. The weather here is getting more and more unpredictable, no doubt as a result of global warming. For those of us who live in places with extreme weather changes, every season is a reminder of where our planet is heading. At least the recent events at the UN climate change conference in Bali offer some encouragement but at the moment it is still just talk. So much more has to be done….
Hopefully the river will fill up soon so that we are not marooned for too long - we have had enough rain to make the access road unusable.
Content Copyright Patrick Bentley Photography
Here come the rains….
November 30, 2007
We have had a lot of rain the last few days - most of it falling in the late afternoon. This is a picture of a huge storm coming in from the east over the Luangwa river. Strangely the river is still dropping and is at the lowest level that it has been all year.
Content Copyright Patrick Bentley Photography
Storm!
November 14, 2007
This picture looks really impressive large but unfortunately at this size doesn’t look like much. Yesterday evening a huge storm came in from the east and was lit by the setting sun. The light was really beautiful but fleeting as only minutes after taking this photo the storm hit. You can see that the river is still very low although it is starting to inch up gradually…..
Content Copyright Patrick Bentley Photography
